Chapter 95: Uncle, You Smiled
Su Keke didn’t pay attention to his gesture. After hearing what he said, she pouted, stuffed the remaining half of her mung-bean cake into her mouth in one bite, then even slipped her fingers into her mouth and sucked them.
Without meaning to, her fingertips became slick and shiny.
Then, with those two fingers she’d just sucked on, she pinched up another piece of mung-bean cake and brought it right to Qin Mochen’s lips—looking like she was about to stuff it straight into his mouth.
“Whether it’s tasty or not, Uncle should try it first before you talk.”
Qin Mochen stared at those two saliva-damp fingers pinching the cake—one second, two seconds, three seconds—then hesitantly opened his mouth.
The small mung-bean cake was swallowed whole. Those two little fingers even pushed it in a bit, as if afraid he might waste it.
For a brief instant, her fingers brushed against the man’s upper lip.
Qin Mochen’s lips trembled lightly.
This unhygienic little girl—she even got her saliva on his lips.
“Hehe, isn’t it super delicious, Uncle?” Su Keke asked with a mischievous grin.
After asking, Su Keke licked the crumbs off her fingers again.
Watching her, Qin Mochen couldn’t help chewing faster. He only chewed the mung-bean cake a few times before swallowing.
He flicked her forehead with a knuckle. “How old are you already, still licking your fingers? Isn’t that dirty?”
“Don’t worry, Uncle. My hands are clean—I washed them before eating.” As she spoke, she held up her little paws and flipped them front and back for him to see. “Look how white they are.”
“…Even if you wash them, there are still bacteria on your hands.”
Su Keke said, “Uncle, isn’t there a saying—‘A little dirt won’t make you sick’? If you’re picky about everything, people will die of exhaustion.”
Qin Mochen was left speechless by her.
Truthfully, a little bit of “not-so-clean” does help build resistance.
But Qin Mochen didn’t want to say that in front of the little girl, lest she get smug and reckless.
“Uncle, you still haven’t said—was it good? It was really good, right!”
Qin Mochen looked at her face blooming with joy and gave a low “Mm.” “So-so.”
A bit sweet. He didn’t like sweets.
Su Keke laughed at him. “If you like it, just say you like it. What kind of evaluation is ‘so-so’?”
Qin Mochen thought for a moment, then corrected himself. “It’s… fairly likable.”
Su Keke let out a heh-heh laugh. “I knew Uncle liked it. Aunt Lin and Grandpa Butler both said it’s good too.”
Qin Mochen paused slightly and gave an “Oh.” “They’ve already eaten it?”
“Yes, yes! I bought several portions. Everyone got some.”
After a few seconds of silence, Qin Mochen nodded and praised, “A filial, good child.”
Su Keke blushed from his praise. “Uncle, then I’ll go back to the study and keep reading. This plate of mung-bean cake was supposed to be for the two of us to eat together, but since Uncle likes it so much, I’ll give it all to Uncle!”
Su Keke pushed the plate toward Qin Mochen and ran into the study herself.
Qin Mochen stared at the plate of mung-bean cakes in front of him, his expression twisting slightly.
After glaring at them with a bitter, aggrieved look for two full minutes, he tried eating another piece.
It didn’t seem that bad—sweet but not cloying. Still acceptable.
Halfway through, Qin Mochen took a phone call.
Hearing Assistant Wu’s words, the man couldn’t help letting out a cold laugh. “Is that so? The elder one only just treated me today to a smoky, messy ‘apology meal,’ and now the younger one wants to treat me too?”
Wu Zongbai hesitated and asked, “Fourth Master, then… should I refuse Miss Huang?”
If Miss Huang hadn’t come directly to him, wearing a look like she was sincerely trying to apologize, Wu Zongbai wouldn’t have asked Fourth Master Qin at all—he would’ve refused outright.
Qin Mochen’s gaze darkened slightly, as if thinking about something. “Let her do as she wants. Does she really think she’s begging you? She’s just indirectly showing me her attitude of admitting fault. The Huang family can’t even find out about a little girl by my side?”
Wu Zongbai: “Fourth Master, I understand.”
Neither agreeing nor opposing. If Huang Yueshan wanted to apologize to the little cutie, then let her apologize. Whether the little cutie accepted it or not was her own business. And don’t even think Fourth Master would change his mind about pulling investment from the Huang family just because of anyone’s face.
Not long after, Su Keke—who was reading in the study—received a call from an unfamiliar number.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t unfamiliar. It was Miss Huang, the one who had splashed wine on her at Old Master Xu’s birthday banquet.
But how did this Miss Huang get her phone number?
And she was inviting her to visit her home, saying she wanted to apologize?
Su Keke couldn’t understand it. It wasn’t even a big deal. If she truly wanted to apologize, saying “I’m sorry” over the phone would’ve been enough. Yet Miss Huang refused to mention those three words at all, only repeatedly saying she wanted to apologize.
If you want to apologize, then apologize already!
Su Keke ran to the living room to find Uncle.
“Uncle, don’t you think this Miss Huang is strange? If she just said the three words ‘I’m sorry,’ wouldn’t it be done? Why is she beating around the bush? I’m not even close to her—why would I go to her house as a guest?”
After listening, Qin Mochen raised his brows slightly and gave a low “Mm.” “It is a bit strange.”
“Then Uncle, do you think I should go or not?” Su Keke asked.
“You’re not little anymore. You can decide this kind of thing yourself.”
Su Keke struggled with it for a moment, then said, “Then I’ll go after school tomorrow. Just now she never said the words ‘I’m sorry,’ but her attitude was still okay.”
Qin Mochen nodded. “I won’t have dinner saved for you tomorrow night.”
After thinking a bit, he still reminded her, “If they make you unhappy, call me.”
Su Keke said, “But they’re inviting me over and apologizing—how would they make me unhappy?”
Qin Mochen gave another “Mm.” “Tomorrow your exam results come out. You can relax appropriately. Studying needs balance—tension and relaxation.”
Su Keke immediately smiled. “I’ll give that last sentence back to Uncle. Uncle, don’t work all the time either. When it’s time to relax, relax a little. How about this weekend I take you to Peach Blossom Village to have a look?”
“I’ve been there.”
“But Uncle hasn’t been to the little thatched hut where I live!
“Let me tell you, Uncle—Shifu and I live in a thatched cottage that’s actually really big. My wooden plank bed isn’t smaller than the one here at your place. Our kitchen is also big. We use a stove top, and the food we make smells especially fragrant. The peaches on the mountain should be pretty big now. When I was little, I always picked unripe peaches to eat—so astringent—but I don’t know why, I still ate them so happily. And on Peach Blossom Mountain there’s a little ghost. Shifu and I have persuaded him for years, but he just won’t go reincarnate…”
Listening to the little girl talk about Peach Blossom Mountain, Qin Mochen’s gaze unconsciously softened, and a trace of a smile also appeared at the corner of his lips.
He compromised. “Alright. I’ll have Assistant Wu push back my schedule for this weekend.”
Relaxing would make him remember some terrible past things. In the end, relaxing became the opposite of relaxing.
But if he went out together with the little girl in front of him, perhaps he really could relax.
Qin Mochen looked at the little girl before him, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.
“Uncle, you smiled!”
“Yes. First time seeing it?”
“Hehe, no. But before you always smiled secretly, so I was too embarrassed to call you out.”
Qin Mochen: ……
